


Turn the Page

by blueharlequin



Series: Bits and Pieces of Things [4]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Western, Bisexuality, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, May Be Expanded Upon, Old West, On Hiatus, Period-Typical Homophobia, Recovery, Serial Killers, Stalking, Substance Abuse, unfinished work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2015-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-12 23:46:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3359795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueharlequin/pseuds/blueharlequin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Retired gunfighter and now sheriff Aaron Hotchner thought he could live a quiet life in a small Western town. Spencer Reid is just looking to runaway after his fiancé mysteriously dies. He goes to live with his cousin JJ and her husband on their ranch. Days after his arrival a series of murders begin to occur. The townspeople begin to wonder if the young man is really who he seems to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Turn the Page

**Author's Note:**

> credit for the title goes to Bob Seger

Ethan stood in the doorway taking in the scene before him, he frowned as he saw Spencer was lying passed out on the bed. The musician sighed heavily as he spied the syringe on the bedside table. “Spencer, you can’t keep doing this to yourself,” he muttered. He shook the young man awake. “What happened this time?”

The young man slowly blinked awake and groggily murmured, “He left, said he was going back to New York. He said if I wanted to make something of myself then I better rethink my career choice. He threw a pile of money at me and said when I got my lawyer’s degree he would consider my role in the family. Did you know they never wanted me to marry her?” Reid rolled back over and pulled the sheet over his head.

“Hell,” Ethan muttered. If William expected Spencer to abandon being a doctor then he had another thought coming. Before Diana had died, the younger man had made it his mission to cure her illness. Against his father’s wishes Reid had attended medical school and graduated in no time at all. Such was his aptitude that he was able to keep studying in multiple fields such as psychiatry and chemistry as he worked towards his own practice. However, shortly afterward his mother had died. The family dismissed it as a result of her illness but Spencer had been convinced that she had been poisoned. He had told Ethan that after testing some of her leftover medication that it had high levels of arsenic. The revelation hadn’t gone well for him. The police had believed that he knew too much about it and suspected him. His already tense relationship with his father became strained as the family buried the scandal then started distancing themselves from him.

Spencer had met Maeve by this time and Ethan was overjoyed because she brought his friend a kind of happiness and acceptance he had previously never known. She was unconventional in her own way, one of the only female doctors he had ever met. After several months they became engaged and William had expressed his displeasure by bringing the young man to every social event he could and introducing him to all of the eligible high society young ladies. The young man had bore it well but after several weeks he and Maeve had gotten into a loud public argument about his family. Ethan remembered that day with great unhappiness. Hours after they had parted Maeve had been found stabbed near the clinic where Spencer worked. The authorities had brought him in for questioning for several hours but had released him due to lack of any sort of evidence. Afterwards, it was ruled as a robbery due to her engagement ring and purse had been missing when she was found.

Ethan had cursed himself after that. Somehow, he had missed all the signs that his friend was spiralling into despair. Outwardly the young man had seemed to take it well but it wasn’t until Ethan had bumped into one of the nurses from his clinic that he found out something was wrong. Lila had inquired if Spencer was sick because he had missed several days of work and when he was there he seemed distracted. The musician had a bad feeling after hearing that and went to find Spencer to confront him. In an effort to isolate his son William had set him up in rented house away from the rest of the family. What Ethan found had distressed him greatly. The young doctor was lounging on his couch high on morphine he had taken from the clinic.

That was over a month ago and Ethan had taken it upon himself to find a solution before his friend killed himself. This moment catalysed it for him and he figured that if Spencer was now free from his family he could start fresh. He looked around the room, the money was scattered all over the floor. The musician pulled the sheet from the kid’s head, “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”

“Why?” The young doctor rolled over to look at him. “It’s not like I have anyone to impress anymore.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Remember your cousin JJ? She’s living in Colorado and she wants to see you.

* * *

_Months later Reid arrives in a dusty western town and peeks into the saloon..._

As he moved away, one of the prostitutes pushed through the batwings. She grabbed his arm and Reid winced as her nails dug into the sensitive skin there. “Hey, there pretty boy you lookin’ for some company?”

Without even looking at her he grimaced and replied, “Not your kind.” Pulling away he made his way down the steps.

She leaned over the railing and yelled at him, “Go to hell, you look like you’d be somebody’s boy anyway!”

Spencer heard a couple of men sitting on the boardwalk snicker. Feeling a mite peevish the young man failed to hold himself back. He turned and smiled at the girl, “Well at least I’d be in better condition than you.” He looked her up and down then tipped his hat, “With looks like that I hope you have a good night.” Her mouth dropped open and Spencer strode away as fast as he could. He knew it was already late but he had to go see JJ at some point. He had wanted to look around town before telling her he was here. If the place didn’t sit right with him he could always leave without any fuss. He could simply continue on to the west coast and send her a letter that he’d changed his mind.

The livery wasn’t far and Spencer stood in front of it contemplating if this was wise. He hadn’t seen Jennifer in years and even though she had written that it wouldn’t be a bother for him to stay with her, he still had some reservations about the arrangement. The decision was taken away from him as the door opened, “Spencer? Oh my goodness!” The blond young woman embraced him tightly. “I was wondering when you were going to show up.” She pulled back and looked him over. “You’re thin, too thin. We need to get you inside and get some food into you.”

* * *

_The next day, mid-afternoon_

Hotch pushed past the doors and walked into the saloon. He walked up to the bar and leaned against it observing the patrons, with a slight tilt of his head he caught Dave’s eye. The older man wiped down the bar in front of him then made his way over to the sheriff. “Aaron,” he pulled a bottle out from under the bar and poured a couple of shots.

“How are the girls?” he looked at the glass the saloon owner placed in front of him with a little frown.

“They’re a little frightened. Sally says it’s the young man over there.” Rossi inclined his head towards the poker table. A skinny pale looking kid was thrashing the table full of rough looking drifters. Hotch raised his eyebrow regarding the scene dubiously. The bartender saw his look and added quietly, “Ellie was coming on to him pretty strong outside last night and he said something to her. She was yelling at him before he walked away.” He drank and nudged the other shot towards the man across from him.

“Anybody see where he went afterwards?” He was still observing the kid who was either oblivious to the growing anger of the other men at the table or very cleverly playing the naiveté card. Aaron frowned as she saw the kid massage the inside of his elbow then nervously push his hair behind his ear. The boy was dressed in city clothes but they were worn, like they had seen better days. Everything about him spoke of someone from money and education, someone who was prim and proper but had fallen into disrepair. He had a shabby looking satchel propped against his leg and Hotch would bet there was at least one book inside. The youth had a sizeable sum of money in front of him and the older man’s mouth quirked back as he watched the kid lose a quarter of it to the most angry looking drifter in a strategically played hand.

Rossi snorted softly, “Clever, I don’t even think they realised he did it on purpose.” The kid raised his hands in a placating manner and smiled ruefully acknowledging his ‘defeat.’ “Blake said she never saw him come back to the hotel but her daughter says he checked out late last night and disappeared.” The young man had gathered up the rest his money by now and was making his way toward the door. Hotch tossed back his drink and slid the glass back over to Dave. He followed the kid out the door onto the dusty road. They rounded the corner heading to the livery and the sheriff looked around making sure the area was clear. Hotch pulled out his gun and pulled back the hammer, the kid stopped as he heard the ominous click.

“I don’t want any trouble but just so you know I won that all fair and square.” He raised his hands and turned around. The older man saw the shocked look on his face when he realised it wasn’t one of the men from the saloon. “Sheriff?” he questioned.

The retired gunslinger motioned toward him, “Turn back around and go to your left. I need to ask you a few questions.” He herded the young man down the street towards the jail. “So what’s your name kid?”

“Spencer Reid.” The youth stopped at the door to the sheriff’s office and the elder man pointed towards a chair. The kid obediently shuffled over to it and Hotch watched him intently as he carefully lowered his bag to the ground next to him.

Aaron didn’t like to dance around so he got right to the point. “Mr. Reid, did you kill Ellie Hale?”

“What?! Who?” Spencer sputtered incredulously.

The sheriff leaned against the desk in front of the young man, effectively blocking his way to the door. “The girl that accosted you last night was murdered. Witnesses say she yelled something pretty nasty at you. Can you account for your whereabouts after the altercation?” 

The youth’s face took on a mulish quality. “There was no ‘altercation.’ She grabbed me on the way out of the saloon, propositioned me, I pulled away and told her ‘no.’ Did the witnesses also tell you that after she verbally assaulted me I bid her ‘good night’ and walked away?”

From what he had heard, Hotch doubted the young man had merely wished her ‘goodnight.’ Switching tactics he queried, “So what are you doing here in our town?”

The kid looked at him strangely then answered, “I’m visiting my cousin Jennifer LaMontagne.”

“JJ?” Aaron was surprised, she had never mentioned anything about having other family. “Did you go straight to the livery after you left the saloon?”

“Yes.”

Hotch pushed away from the desk and motioned for the kid to stand. “Well I’m going to have to lock you up here while I check out your story.”

Spencer reached for his satchel but the sheriff shook his head, “Can’t take that in there with you unless I search it.”

The young man looked panicked for a second before answering, “It’s got personal papers inside. I would prefer not to have them looked at.” He stepped away from the bag and walked into one of the cells sitting down on the chair next to the rough cot inside. Aaron closed the door and gathered up the bag. He placed it inside the safe in the office and took one last look at the young man before he walked out of the room.


End file.
